


Pick Up

by kalivio



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Christmas Angst, How Do I Tag, I Think This Hurts A Lot, M/M, asheiji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21888922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalivio/pseuds/kalivio
Summary: On Christmas Day, Eiji Okumura receives a call. He thinks it's a prank until he finds out the person on the other end is Ash Lynx, one of New York's most notorious gang leaders, whose life is at stake.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	1. if i let go, would you hold on? would we fly?

**Author's Note:**

> inspiration:  
> Random by Tom Leveen  
> it's a damn good read and i finished it in one sitting.
> 
> chapter titles are inspired by/from Dancing After Death by Mac Maeson.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a drunk eiji receives a call

The door of a hotel room opens, and a man staggers inside. Don’t worry, it’s his hotel room. He reeks of alcohol and cigarettes, neither of which were his in the first place. His outfit may have looked good at first but now he looks like a well-dressed wino.

This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for him. A break; a respite from things back home. Now look what happened. 

Eiji collapses into his hotel bed and curls up under the covers fully dressed. The clock on the bedside table blinks red at him in the semi-darkness, reminding him of the head-splitting jetlag he experienced not long ago. He stares up at the ceiling and spaces out. Homesick and drunk. What a lovely combination. 

Shunichi would undoubtedly scold him tomorrow morning, but at the moment, he couldn’t care less. 

Turning over on his side, he stares at the lights of New York City. They’re waxing and waning just like generations upon generations of humans; just like the cherry blossom trees he promised he’d see. 

He pulls his phone out from his coat pocket and sets it beside him. There aren’t any messages from anybody back home. Eiji already knew that. And yet, he scrolls through his phone, hoping and praying.

_Looking for a sign._

__________

He doesn’t remember falling asleep. The clock blinks _2:47 AM_ at him. He hears rumbling in the distance, as if a bomb was set off just seconds after he woke. That’s not necessarily the best way to wake up on Christmas day. He shudders despite wearing all of his winter layers.

When he tries to get up, Eiji crashes back into bed. A splitting migraine pins his head to the bed, and he groans, then rolls to his side, which is apparently a bad idea. Feeling a burning sensation rise up in his throat, he makes it to the toilet just in time. He cradles his head between his hands and collapses against the toilet bowl, his breath shaky.

Suddenly, his phone starts to ring. Eiji fumbles his way to the bed and pats it down in search for his phone.

“Hellooo? Who’s thisss?” he drawls into the receiver. The acid of his puke burnt his throat and it makes his voice sound a little raspy.

“Oh. Hey.”

Eiji can’t help but notice the surprise in the caller’s voice. He doesn’t know why, but that bugs him. As if even a stranger would be surprised to find someone like him in his current predicament. Well, _shit happens._ It feels like a cruel joke, and at the moment, he already feels like the entire universe is already playing a huge joke on him. Something fiery bubbles up inside him, and this time it’s not vomit.

“Listen, _mister_ , I dunno who you are but good _holy shit,_ are you terrible at prank calls.”

“Wait, I-”

It’s a good thing Eiji hangs up when he does because it would be rude to force someone, even a prank caller, to listen to him puke the rest of his stomach up. Wiping his mouth, he stagger-stumbles into the bathtub. He lays there for a while as his head eventually stop churning like socks in a washing machine and starts to swirl like letters in alphabet soup.

Eiji’s thoughts stray back to his phone. Somewhat coherent, he picks it up, but doesn’t turn it on. He’s intrigued, to say the least. And he finds it funny to some extent, somehow. Be it a prank call or not, he is lonely. Maybe he would have had a laugh or something. God knew he needed one of those, or maybe just a little company. An idea starts to form in his head despite the murkiness of it… 

But first, a shower. 

________

“Hello?” Eiji sets the call to speaker mode and towels his hair.

For a moment, all he hears is heavy breathing and some muttering. He starts to get apprehensive of the situation. “Hey, I think you’ve got a reason for calling me, right?”

More breathing. Eiji sighs. He got his hopes up for nothing. But when his finger’s an inch away from ending the call, he finally speaks. 

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Mhmm. _You guess._ ”

The guy — Eiji’s pretty sure it’s a guy at this point — laughs a little, and Eiji smiles. So he’s a real person, after all. This is some prank call, huh?

“Uhm… about earlier, I know that was super rude of me to hang up on you all of a sudden, but I just… My head wasn’t on straight.”

“Yeah, I could tell.” 

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think you hung up on me properly.”

When he hears Eiji groan because he had, in fact, heard him hurl his insides out, he chuckles. “It’s fine! It’s fine. Everyone has their bad days, right?"

He appreciates that he doesn’t ask why.

_“Yeah, I guess.”_

Eiji imagines the caller smiling into the receiver, probably somewhere enjoying the holiday season with his family. He checks the number on his phone. It’s American, but he can’t be certain he’s actually somewhere nearby. But then again, if he really is with family, why would he call someone?

“How’d you get my number?”

“A random number generator.”

“And why would you decide to call a random number on Christmas day, mystery man?” Eiji leans back in his chair and folds his arms. 

“Well… you could say that I wanted to talk.”

“To a complete stranger?”

“Yep.”

Now it’s Eiji’s turn to laugh. No matter how strange the entire situation is, not to mention how fishy it all sounds, he feels like he’s being genuine. He hasn’t met anyone like that in a long time. At the very least, he’s charmed.

“I’m Eiji. What’s your name?”

There’s a pause that hangs between them for a little longer than necessary.

“Aslan. My name’s Aslan.”

He says it a little too quickly. Even though Eiji raises an eyebrow slightly, he doesn’t ask questions about it. Just as he realises he’s been silent for too long, Aslan asks him a question. 

“Where do you come from? I can tell by the accent that you’re not local.”

“I’m from Japan,” he replies. “What do you mean by local? Where are you right now?”

“Poolside. Threw a big Christmas party.”

“So, New York, then?”

“Mhmm.”

“What’s the view from up there?”

“Lights; twinkling and blinking,” Aslan’s voice trails out on the last word and sighs. “Could you send me a photo of yourself?”

“What?”

Eiji scoffs. So it’s a prank call after all. Just some weirdo looking for some nudes via number roulette. He knew that this was a possibility from the start, and yet he still dialed Aslan’s number back up. Despite this, he still feels hurt. 

“Aslan, look-”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up. Oh, that came out all wrong. Oh... fuck.”

_Yeah, no shit._

“Hmm?” Eiji leans forward in his chair. He’s curious to hear what crappy excuse this guy would come up with.

“You probably think I’m some horny degenerate now, right?”

When he doesn’t reply, Aslan groans. His voice gets softer, like he’s going further away from the phone. Eiji imagines him throwing his head back in frustration. 

“I just… wanted to know who I’m talking to. How you would look like.”

Even though he isn’t fully convinced that his intentions are pure, Eiji responds. Though, he feels like he would probably come to regret it. 

“Typical Asian. Black hair, dark brown eyes.”

“Well that certainly leaves a lot to the imagination.”

Eiji avoids retorting with an innuendo and instead asks him what he looks like. 

“My hair’s blonde, and layered quite a lot. On my bad days I look like a blonde Joan Jett. My eyes are green.” 

“You know, I can’t trust anything you say yet.”

Aslan feigns surprise and upset. “After I just told you all that? You hurt me so, Eiji.” 

“Mhmm.”

“How’s this; I promise to tell you the truth… so long as you tell the truth, too.”

“But we wouldn’t know for sure, right? I mean-"

“Trust goes both ways. I give you my word.”

Eiji’s palms start to sweat, and he rubs them against his legs. Something inside him tells him that he should trust Aslan, but the rest of his head tells him to hang up right now. So far, this guy has sounded pretty genuine. He doesn’t really seem like someone who would do him — or anyone else, for that matter — any harm… unless he absolutely needs to. 

“Eiji?”

_Merry Christmas, Eiji._

“Sure. I’ll trust you.”

When Aslan speaks, he can hear the smile in his voice. He can’t help it and smiles too. “I knew you’d come through for me.”

“What about a game of 21 questions?”

“Why not?”

“What’s the real reason you called a random person up?”

 _“Ah.”_ Aslan’s tone changes completely, and Eiji hears the coldness seeping through it. He notices something too — a sort of resigned sadness. He sighs, his breath crackling against the receiver. 

“You know, Eiji… You might just be the last person I ever talk to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any questions, suggestions, or words encouragement for me, leave them down below !!


	2. is it safer to just say that we tried?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stakes rise and shunichi makes an entrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> carpel tunnel coming to vibe check me T-T

Eiji sits back in his chair. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Although my birth name is Aslan, most people would know me as Ash Lynx. Does it ring a bell?”

Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately, it does as the name of one of the most feared gang leaders in New York. Shunichi told him that he should do his best to avoid the crime scene of this city. And he did; he really did. But it seems that the pinnacle of crime found him. The day just keeps on getting better. 

Ash continues when Eiji draws a shaky breath. “Got into a little tiff with some people, and they got a little more than just angry.”

“A little tiff… I heard an explosion earlier. It woke me up. Was that… was that you?”

“Yes.”

It hits Eiji that he’s dealing with something that’s so much bigger than him; that there are entire organisations out there bent to the will of a select few, whose goals are far from good; that he really has only seen the light side of the moon; that Ash Lynx has seen nothing but the dark side of said moon.

“But… You’re willing to die because of that? Why now?”

“Because I’m tired, Eiji. I’ve fallen down this fucking rabbit hole. And I don’t want to get out.”

And somehow, he understands. A life of crime would always be a short one. That’s just how things are. In a garden, the prettiest flowers are picked. But in order to grow them, the weeds need to be ripped out first. Still, Eiji wonders if Ash feels any guilt for anything he did.

“So why call some random guy?”

“I wanted to see if there was some good in the world. If it was still worth living for.”  
  
At this moment, Shunichi knocks on the door. Eiji jumps up from his chair all of a sudden.

As he welcomes him into the room, he opens his mouth to speak, but he hears Ash from across the room. “Eiji? Who’s knocking?”

His expression changes from anger to bewilderment to suspicion. Eiji holds up his finger to shush him as he shouts, “Nobody, Ash. My books just fell from my… uh, nightstand.”

At the sound of his name, Shunichi’s jaw drops. He looks at Eiji with wide eyes, as if asking him if it’s really Ash Lynx on his phone. When he nods gravely, and he takes a step backwards as his hand rises to cover his mouth in shock.

Ash grunts, but he doesn’t sound convinced.

“Hey, trust goes both ways, right?” Eiji says, and quickly grabs the hotel stationery and scribbles on it.

“I guess you’re right…”

He shows the notepad to Shunichi. _We need to find Ash Lynx. He might die._ He starts to argue, but Eiji taps on the paper and gestures for him to write on it instead. 

“So, about what you were saying earlier. Did you find out whether the world’s still worth living for?” 

“I have to say, when you started retching, I wasn’t quite sure,” he snickers. Eiji laughs too, but stops when the notepad is shoved back towards him. _He might be lying, Eiji._

His eyebrows knit themselves together. Ash wouldn’t do that, right? He scrawls hurriedly. _But he promised me._

Ash continues to speak. “Then you called back, and it made me hope. You made me hope, Eiji.”

Shunichi carefully picks the next words to write. _And what about it? Old habits die hard. You can’t exactly trust the words of a criminal. Even one that’s on his deathbed._

“I’m glad to hear that, Ash.”

“But since we’re here, why don’t you give me a reason to live?”

He’s stunned. A reason to live? It isn’t exactly something that he’s given much thought to before. He just lives, day after day, and hopes that something good would come his way. But for one of New York’s most dangerous men, he probably hasn’t seen anything good in a while. Even Shunichi, who now sits on Eiji’s bed, pauses to look up at the phone. 

“There’s so much that I’ve done wrong and so many things I could’ve done right. I’m fucking exhausted. I just want to go home, Eiji. And I don’t really care if my home is 6 feet underground,” he says. If he is as old as Shunichi had told him, he’s too young to be this jaded. He is two years younger than him, and he’s ready to die.

“You know… that’s not exactly fair, Ash. I just… I think everyone deserves to live.”

“Not me. There’s too much blood on my hands; too much wine in my cup.”

For some reason, Eiji starts to feel angry. “If this is because you feel guilty, you can’t exactly say sorry by dying. That’s plenty stupid. And I know I shouldn’t be judgemental, but I thought you were smarter than this,” he snaps. He throws the notepad behind him in the general direction of the bed. He has written a lot, but there’s one word that strikes him the most; _Please._

For a long pause, there’s only silence — nothing but Eiji’s inhales and exhales, and Ash’s own crackling against the receiver.

“ _Maybe_ , Eiji. Just maybe.” 

When he reads what he wrote on the notepad, Shunichi looks up at Eiji, who meets his eyes with his own. For the first time in months, they’re not empty and lifeless. He sees determination in them, as if someone had lit a fire behind them. He nods, then quickly leaves the room. 

“The only reason why there’s so much blood on your hands is that you haven’t started to wash them. Start with now. Start with me.”

“I-”

Perhaps for the first time in a long while, Ash Lynx is scared. He knows Eiji can hear his voice shaking. Make amends? How on earth would he do that? Start with Eiji? 

“Promise me, Ash; that you’ll get through tonight and start making things right. I don’t care how long it takes.”

“I can’t do that.”

Eiji sighs. Of course he can’t. He already knew that. But maybe if he-

Shunichi comes back and hands him a laptop. Almost immediately, he starts typing. “I know, I know, but could you at least try?”

“I guess.”

“That’s fucking wonderful.” 

Nobody says anything for a while, and Shunichi starts making himself and Eiji some green tea from the minibar. He doesn’t realise the silence until Ash speaks, “What are you typing, Eiji?”

Both him and Shunichi are startled, and the latter chokes on his tea. He holds his breath and tries to think of an answer. “Eiji?” he asks again. With a single word, his tone has changed, and the room almost seems to drop a few degrees. 

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just a little mini project from school.”

“You’re a terrible liar, you know.” 

His voice drips with pique. “You promised to tell me the truth, Eiji. What happened to that promise?”

“Ash, I know, I just-”

“It’s fine,” he says, but his tone betrays the fact that it’s not. “Just tell me who else is in the room.”

Eiji curses under his breath. 

“Nobody, Ash. It’s just me. I’m alone.”

_“Who. Is. In. The. Room?”_

He looks toward Shunichi for help, who slowly approaches the phone. “It’s just Shunichi.”

“Your dad?”

“No, just a photojournalist friend.”

Turns out, Shunichi is braver than Eiji thought he is. “Hey, Ash.”

Eiji intercedes in an attempt to explain himself. “Ash, I’m just trying to find you, okay? I-” He hesitates, not because he’s scared to say it, but he’s incredulous that it’s the truth.

“I’m trying to save you.”

Ash leaves his statement hanging, and somehow the distance between them seems to grow even more, as if he’s not just at some poolside of a hotel he can’t dream to afford; as if the Pacific Ocean separated them. 

But when he finally speaks, Eiji gets shivers. His voice is barely audible, even with Eiji’s phone at full volume.

_“Then come find me.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any questions, suggestions or words of encouragement for dear old me, leave them below !!


	3. are we dancing after death, you and i?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the stunning conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO LATE THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT

Ash hangs up. His words are still tingling in Eiji’s ear. He’s still staring at the phone on his table in shock until it pings with a notification. 

_ Mandarin Oriental  _

_ Come alone. _

_ 3:12a.m. _

Eiji smiles sheepishly at Shunichi, who sighs incredulously. “I need to go.”

“That’s it? No explanation, nothing? You just expect me to let you go?”

He doesn’t need to say anything else, because he knows he’ll let him go anyway. He still feels a little guilty. 

“I’ll be back before lunch.” He says, grabbing his coat from the closet and heading out.

________

“Pull up here, please. And keep the change,” Eiji quite literally throws the few notes he had found inside his pockets and sprints towards the door, then through the hotel lobby. 

_ 52nd floor. Oriental Suite. _

_ 3:26a.m. _

If the staff found anything strange about it, they didn’t ask him any questions. He manages to catch an elevator.

For some reason, he doesn’t feel as nervous as he should. Or maybe he’s so panicked, he’s beyond feeling it. In any case, his hands are balled into fists instead of nervously tapping. And for a scary moment, this might be the best he’s felt in a long while. 

The doors open, and Eiji starts to brisk-walk towards Ash’s room. Is it even his room? He tries not to think of that, and instead of what might happen. 

Once the distance between the doors start to widen, he assumes he’s somewhere near his room. 

“Ash!” he calls out, his brisk-walk turning into a light jog. “Ash!” 

He makes it all the way to the end of the corridor, slightly winded. He starts to regret jogging the rest of the way from how his head starts to sway. Apparently, the aftereffects of last night’s party haven’t worn off yet. Leaning down to catch his breath, he doesn’t notice he’s not alone until he realises there’s a shadow on the ground beside him. 

Eiji looks up to meet Ash’s eyes. The description he gave him may match up, but they don’t do him justice. His breath catches in his throat, and he thinks… He’s gorgeous, to say the least. 

When Ash notices his reaction, he simply smiles; to Eiji’s relief. He doesn’t think he can handle being teased by someone who looks like him. “Need a hand?”

He helps Eiji up and leads him to his suite, which would look absolutely gorgeous if not for the stray corpse. Blood splatter nearly every wall, and bullets litter the ground. 

Sunlight streams through an open window, and he notices it’s not because it’s open; it’s been shattered. Scorch marks on the wall spread outward from the window. His shoes crunch on broken glass. He realises with a shaky gasp that this is the aftermath of the explosions that woke him up. 

“Are you scared?” 

Eiji sucks in a breath and turns towards him, trying his best to seem unnerved. “No.”

Ash smiles at him sadly and knowingly. “What a baby,” he says and gestures towards the bedroom. “You can stay there while I get something from the minibar.”

He almost scoffs at the thought of a minibar in this graveyard of a hotel suite as he drags his finger along the hallway to the bedroom.

Expecting to find the worst of Ash’s casualties there, he’s astounded to find it barely touched. 

He must have heard Eiji gasp as he stood in the doorway. With a sheepish grin, scratches the back of his head. “I couldn’t bear to sleep in the bed. It’s too comfy. Slept on the sofa instead.” 

He offers him a can of beer, which is comfortingly cool to Eiji’s touch. 

They sit on the edge of the bed and he notices his shirt is stained with blood.  _ Whose blood, Eiji?  _

Instead of cracking his beer open and drinking it, Ash presses it to the side of his head. He notices it’s bleeding and tentatively reaches out, then thinks better of it. “What did you mean when you got into a tiff with some people?” he asks instead.

His expression starts to harden, and immediately he begins to regret asking. Through gritted teeth, he replies. “Someone killed someone important, and framed me for it.”

Eiji’s mouth forms a silent  _ oh _ . He sets his beer to the side. It’s not as if drinking it would cure his hangover, anyway. Somehow, he trusts him and that he’s telling the truth. For once, all of him are decided on one action — protect Ash Lynx. They sit in silence until he summons the courage to ask another question. 

“What now?” he asks.

“Now we wait.”

________

Someone’s breath tickles Eiji’s cheek. He groans and turns the other way. He can smell something sweet in the air. It’s vague, but it reminds him of home. A pause, then -

“Eiji.”

He’s not at home. His eyes snap open and meet a pair of brilliantly green ones. His smile melts from his face. It wasn’t a dream after all. Ash almost looks sorry that he woke him up. “They’re here, Eiji.”

Even though he’s beside him, Eiji notices he hadn't slept at all. He nearly asks him why he had climbed into the bed with him if he had said can’t sleep anyway.

But there’s not enough time. 

First comes a sound like thunder. It’s distant, and akin to the sound that woke him up at 2am this morning. Eiji grabs the sheets around him and sits up in bed. Ash holds up a finger to his lips to silence a squeak that had slipped between them.

Then, yelling. Very colourful language is used, but it’s not very imaginative. In any case, the intent is clear. 

All of a sudden, he grabs Eiji and shoves him into the walk-in closet. In shock, he doesn’t react at first, but starts to protest when Ash starts to close the door behind him to shut him inside. When he meets his eyes, though, they’re like ice. Thinking better of his actions, he settles into the coats. As he closes the door behind him, Ash’s expression softens, almost like he’s saying goodbye. No — he is saying goodbye. 

“Ash!” he cries out and rushes forward, but he’s too late. In the pitch-dark, he hears the lock click somewhere above him.

Then comes the sound like thunder again, and he scrambles backward. They’ve broken through the bedroom door and someone speaks. Eiji presses his ear against the door. 

“Ash Lynx. So we meet.”

“Sing Soo-Ling.” 

He sighs, relieved to hear Ash’s voice. He thought the blast might have killed him. 

“You’ll pay for what you did to Shorter.”

“Chinatown shows no mercy, eh?”

For a moment, he’s confused. Someone named Shorter? Ash killed him?

“Ash, tradition decrees for this to happen. It’s not what I would have wanted, but Shorter’s gone. I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

He notices the speaker’s voice crack at the second mention of this Shorter person. He must have mattered a lot to whoever’s talking. _ This was it? _ Eiji asks himself.  _ Revenge? Bloodshed? It amounts to nothing. _ He crumples against the door, but the next sound doesn’t take much effort to hear.

It’s a gun being cocked.

Pounding against the door, he yells, protesting against the murder. The door is promptly unlocked, and he has to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. 

When his eyes adjust, the first thing he sees is a gun pointed right at his head. He yelps in surprise. The person holding it seems way too young to be holding one. 

“Ash is innocent, I swear! You can’t… You…”

Eiji starts to mumble as he takes in his surroundings. Even though the leader is young, the rest of them aren’t. And from what he can see, they’re armed to the teeth. He’s scared, to say the least. 

“And who are you to say that?”

That question takes him by surprise. He looks at Ash, whose face is unreadable.

“I-”

Eiji feels an arm slide around his shoulders, and he turns to face Ash before he can continue. He’s looking Sing dead in the eye with a smirk.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

He almost exclaims in surprise, but the grip on his shoulders suddenly tightens. Eiji grabs Ash’s hand, and tries his best to glare the holder of the gun down. His thoughts slow down.  _ I guess this is what it means when they say your life flashes before your eyes.  _

_ One. _

There are seventeen men in the room.

_ Two. _

All of them carry at least one gun.

_ Three.  _

There are more than enough bullets to kill the both of them right here, right now.

_ Four _ .

At least Eiji can say he has no regrets. He breaks eye contact from Sing, because he can’t bear it anymore. Instead, he nestles into Ash’s arms.  _ Not a bad way to go, eh? _

_ Five. _

“Stand down.” 

He looks up at Sing, stunned. His gun is at his side. Even though his expression is still tough, Eiji can see something in his eyes. It’s not mercy or pity; it’s empathy. 

“I won’t kill innocents. Not while I’m in charge.”

He turns, and signals for the men to follow him. Before he leaves the room, Eiji calls out to him.

“Thank you.”

Sing pauses by the doorframe. For a moment, he thinks he’s going to reply, until he just clicks his tongue and leaves.

________

“Your boyfriend, eh?”

Ash shrugs as he gathers his clothes. “It’s more convincing.”

Despite his nonchalance, Eiji can see him smiling. For a lot of reasons, he’s kind of creeped out that he could be so relaxed after a brush with death. But it’s not something he can’t get used to, he thinks. 

“So what happens now?” Ash asks.

“Well, I have a flight back to Japan tomorrow morning. I should get packing, I guess.”

“You can’t stay?”

“I think I’ve seen enough of the land of the free,” Eiji snorts.

He looks up at Ash, who enters the bedroom with a duffel bag. He almost looks like he’s sad to see him go, which would probably be unlikely. He’s known him for, what, 7 hours? 

The next thing he does surprises him. Eiji wraps his arms around him in a hug, and for the first time notices their height difference. It’s awkward at first, but Ash soon relaxes and returns it.

“Be seeing you, Eiji Okumura.”

“And you, Ash Lynx.”

________

He’s sprinting out the hotel lobby and onto the street. Hailing a cab, he notices a woman running towards him. She looks like she’s part of the hotel staff, and Eiji winces. Maybe she’s here to make him pay for Ash’s suite. He seemed like the type to prank someone. 

Instead, she smiles and hands him a slip of paper. “This dripped from your pocket, sir.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Opening it, he reads it and smiles. It’s Ash’s phone number and email.

_ Pick up, samurai boy. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any questions, suggestions of words of encouragement for me, leave them in the comments below !!


End file.
